Night Dwellers
by MythoMagicQueen18
Summary: Hayashi Tanaka, a 17 year old ghoul, lives in the most ghoul infested Ward, Ward 11. She lives a low-key life, just barely getting enough food for herself. But Tana doesn't only use her Kagune for food... But her life completely changes after she confronts Kimura Toshiko, a 18 year old rookie Dove. After their lives entangle in Ward 20, they find themselves forced to work together.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

I have been called many thing throughout my life. To my mother, I was her kitten. To the Doves, I'm either The Black Cat, or The Night Dweller. But to me, I am Hayashi Tanaka, with Tanaka meaning dweller. Lucky guess for those Doves.

For as long as I can remember, I have always lived in Ward 11, the most dangerous of them all. My mother always told me to watch out when I left the house. Why she told me that, I never understood. My mother was the kindest person I ever knew. She never once raised her voice, or said no. that should have made me a good child, right?

Wrong.

 **Chapter 1**

I sauntered through the dark alleyway, my dirty shoes echoing in the darkness. I keep my ears open, listening for any sounds, or screams, of distress. I listen for someone who is in pain, who probably won't make it through the night. I listen for the sounds of someone being attacked

Here in the eleventh Ward, it is considered luck to not hear of any reported attacks. Ward 11 is the Ward with the most recorded ghouls. There is, at the least, on attack per week. But that's the least, if were super lucky. Normally, we're not, but this week has become one of our super lucky weeks.

I hear a sudden crash and a familiar cry of delight. I turn and sprint towards the noise, eager to find my awaiting enemy. More laughter comes from the voice and I sprint faster, hoping I make it time.

I'm sure I am too late as I watch a hidden ghoul using their Kagune to stab the poor human. I was ready to pounce from the shadows and face the ghoul, but I stopped when I saw who it was.

"No way…"

It was the infamous Rize. The familiar laugh belonged to her. I couldn't let her see me, for the fear of her ripping me apart too…

I shook my head and looked around for something up high to take her out with. Or at least keep her from killing off the human. There were some steel bars hanging overhead, but not close enough to her. I decided to take the chance and scale the building next to me, out of Rize's sight. The bars were almost directly over her, she just needed to move a little more…

BANG! The bars fell, right on top of her. My eyes Widened and I stepped back.

I didn't do that.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It's been about 3 hours since my encounter with Rize. Not much has happened since. My stomach growled. _Damn._ I wish I could have eaten that kid, but the problem was that he was still alive.

I didn't want to leave him there to die, either. After surviving an attack by a ghoul like that, you deserve to live. So instead, I screamed for help and fled, taking the subways down here to Ward 14.

Itori, the owner of the bar, walked over to me and refilled my glass with crimson colored drink. Take a good guess.

"How are you feeling, Tanaka? You look... unfed..."

"I'm fine" I lie, hurriedly chugging down my drink.

"I've known you long enough, Tanaka. How come you haven't found any food?"

I want to tell her what I saw. Instead, I stretch back and sigh. "Ghouls have been slow on feeding, lately. Or just quietly attacking so that I can't hear them."

She stood up straight. "Well, I don't have any food here at the bar, so I would advise going to Anteiku. How long has it been since you ate?"

I think back, not bothering to lie anymore. "Maybe about... 3 weeks ago? I try and keep a healthy, one month diet."

Itori smiles and fills a glass for herself. "Well, could you at least spend the night there? For me?"

I roll my eyes. "Fine."

(1 hour later)

My stomach grumbles. I put a hand on it and continue walking down the road. I keep my ears and eyes alert. The doves have become busy here in Ward 20, and I'm much too at risk for a one to find me. My stomach makes a threatening noise, warning me that the next one will be louder.

I pick up my pace. It would be easy for a dove to spot me, out here in the empty streets, but I bet their all asleep. I look at a passing clock to check. It's about 12:30 now. The stupid subway goes super slow at night. The seat felt so comfortable I almost fell asleep there.

I turned a corner and sprung up the steps to Anteiku, a ghoul run coffee shop and housing for ghouls in need. I guess I'm one of those today.

I knock rapidly on the door, waiting for an answer. Ghouls don't normally sleep, but every so often they do. I just hope today isn't one of those...

Finally, someone opens the door for me.

I yawn as I follow Tōka inside.


	3. Chapter 3

This damn meeting was taking way too long. I sighed and stretched, almost reaching the man behind me. He gave me a dissatisfied look and turned his attention back at the old man up front.

Alright, he isn't that old, but he's older than me. Way older.

While this boring talker up front is talking nonsense, I'm thinking of the new routes I can take around the city. Maybe even go further than I'm supposed to...

McBoring Hairdo finally finishes up with whatever he was talking about and turns away from the large screen on the wall.

"Is there any further business we need to attend?" Asks Itsuki Marude, the guy up front.

"Yeah!" I call out from the back, still seated. "When is this meeting over?"

Itsuki puts a hand to his face as a couple men laugh quietly. I may be the youngest here, but I'm certainly not the least known person.

To clarify that, I'm the youngest by a long shot. There are few others around my age, but I'm still the youngest. I'm only 17 and already one of the highest rankers of my time.

"Is there any other actual business to attend to? Seeing none, we shall adjourn this Meeting. Have a good rest of the day..."

"Yes Sir!" Everyone chants simultaneously.

I wait in the back until all of the others have filed out of the room before I follow. I saunter out of the room and sigh in relief. Another boring meeting over.

A familiar voice rang out through the hallways. "Iko!"

I turned and saw my father coming towards me with an irritated look on his face. I sighed and looked down, waiting for the lecture to begin.

He reached me and wiped his face with his handkerchief. He looked down at me.

"Iko... you really need to stop interrupting these meetings and take them seriously."

I looked up at him. "But they're super boring. How am I supposed to pay attention?"

"Mr. Kimura!"

Before I could get my usual lecture of growing up, another fellow dove came strutting towards us. I looked at him, trying to remember his name.

Though, like everyone else, my father remembered his name

"Ah, Detective Amon! What is it that you need, son?"

His name came to me finally. No, my father did not remind me, I remembered right before he said it.

Detective Amon Koutarou nodded at my father, then acknowledged me. "Mr. Marude wants to see you."

My father turned to me. "You better hope it's not about you, Iko."

"Praying 'till I can pray anymore, sir."

He sighed and walked off, his silver suitcase at his side.

"Ms. Kimura."

"Huh?" I looked up at Koutarou, who was looking right back at me.

He cleared his throat. "We have your Quinque ready for you."


	4. Chapter 4

I woke to the sound of a door opening, ringing its bell along the way. I sat up, my eyes heavy with exhaustion. I looked to my right to where a small bedside table sat in between the wall and my bed. My stomach grumbled as I noticed the plate on the table. The smell coming off my breakfast was mouth-watering. I sat up and put the plate on my lap.

I will spare you the details of my breakfast, but I will remind you that I am a ghoul, and ghouls cannot eat human food. Hopefully by now you should know what I eat, so...

After finishing my meal, I brought my plate over to a little kitchen in the apartment, and then went into the bathroom to clean myself up. The bathroom was small, but enough space to fill one person. I borrow some of touka's old clothing and put my raggedy ones in the dirty clothes hamper.

When I feel like I'm cleaner than ever, I head downstairs to see the others before opening. Walking down the stairs, I can hear two people cleaning up after their cups of coffee. I walked through the doorway and was greeted by Kaya and Hinami.

"Hiya Tanaka!" Hinami gave me a big hug.

"Hey Hinami, What's up?"

"I didn't think you would back here so early, Tana."

I stood up and brushed my shorts off out of habit. "Neither did I, Kaya, but hadn't eaten in a while, and Itori made me come back down here, so..."

She put a hand on my shoulder and smiled. "It's good to have you back."

I sighed. "I can't go back to ward 11 for a while, 'cuz of those doves, so I've been jumping around the Wards lately.

"Well that explains why you were at Itori's bar, then."

I blush in annoyance at Koma, poking his head around the corner. "She wanted to see me, is all."

"Mmhm. Any guys there?" He puts a hand up to his chin.

"Oh my gosh, leave me alone!"

He leaves and goes back behind the bar. "Good to see you too!" He calls.

I grumble some words of annoyance at him and go sit at a table. I look around.

"Hey, Kaya, Where is Touka?"

"School" she says, without looking up from her cup.

"Oh, right..."

I haven't been in school in almost 8 years, around the time I was 9. After my mother died, I dropped out of school, unnoticed, and made a living on the streets. Kinder ghouls taught me a few lessons, while tougher ones kept me out of their way. I don't have any scars, but I can remember where all of them would be.

I closed my eyes and sat there, finally on a break. I haven't been able to sit down like this in a while. And especially haven't gotten any good coffee in a long time. I hear Koma walk over to my table and hand me a cup of coffee.

You sure were lucky you weren't seen last night, Tana," He says as he leaves. "Those doves have been staying u pretty early. Though how Touka heard you last night I still don't understand."

"I believe she just wasn't tired," I say, opening one eye at him. "She had a cup of coffee on the table when I came in and went upstairs."

"Are you going back to your Ward again soon?" Hinami appeared at my side like a dog would when it hears its master open up the treat bag.

"Well, depending on how busy those damned Doves are down there, I'm just gonna wait until they're gone."

"Smart choice," Says Kaya.

"So does that mean you'll stay longer?" Hinami eagerly pulls at my jacket's arm.

I smile. "Yeah, just a little longer."


	5. Chapter 5

There were only very few occasions that I found to be special. Birthdays, Holidays, and most importantly, getting a new Quinque.

"This way, Miss Kimura."

I followed Amon through many long corridors until we came upon the room. I don't know what the actual name of the room is, probably classified. The room was dark, with tall, looming shelves holding thousands of boxes, the sizes varying from the size of my suitcase to twice my height.

Amon called out and a man holding a suitcase came over. I smiled as I exchanged the suitcases.

"Be careful with that one, ma'am", said the man. "that's the sharpest substance we have."

I grinned. I couldn't hold in my excitement any longer. I pushed the button on the handle and my case sprang into two seven-foot swords. Their black and purple blades glimmered in the crappy lighting above.

I whispered under my breath, "whoa..."

The man in front of me coughed and I looked up. He had a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

"If you don't mind, could you close that again please?"

I did as he asked and the man exhaled.

"Have a nice day, ma'am."

…...

As if sensing my excitement, my father let me leave the building to go try out my new weapon. A practically sprinted to my motorbike parked out back and sped off to an alleyway far away to practice on some old trash bins. I parked and pressed the button to my suitcase. One of the swords stayed in my grip as the second one jumped up higher than in had in the room.

I grinned as I used a trash bin to jump up and catch the sword. These two blades were perfect. They were perfectly balanced, easy to do tricks with. As I started to land, I readied my feet for a quick spring towards a trash can. I slashed the two swords into it in a x motion. I landed and waited a second until the trash bin fell apart in perfect pieces.

Finally, I though, my life was coming together. Only one final step.

I still need a partner.


	6. Chapter 6

Hinami would not stop and take a break from pestering me until I agreed to take her to the book store, again.

"Calm down, child. We're going!"

She laughed and spiraled around as we walked down the street. I chuckled as little Hinami jumped around. We passed about 3 or 4 doves on our way, blending in with the people around us to not get seen as suspicious. I put on my best fake un-Ghoul-looking face and walked on.

While I was trying to keep my little trouble maker from bumping into people, I couldn't see the person in front of me.

I dropped my purse as the person in front of me dropped her luggage.

"Oh my! I am so-"

I looked at her suitcase, a sleek silver case with absolutely no sign of any scratches or marks.

She picked up her suitcase. "No problem at all, I'm pretty clumsy myself." She smiled, pulling her long, jet-black hair over her small shoulder. We locked eyes for a second, her pale, green eyes boring into my soul. I stifled a scream.

I nodded to her. "Really, it was me. I wasn't looking-"

I remembered hinami and frantically looked around. I spotted her near a fountain, throwing in coins she found on the ground. I sighed in relief.

"Well, have a nice day!" She left, turning down an empty alleyway.

I walked as fast as I could over to Hinami and held on tight to her arm.

"Hinami," I murmured, "We need to leave, now."

"But we haven't gone to the book store yet!" She complained.

"Uuh, you're mom texted me, she wants you to come back." I held up my phone for effect.

She huffed in response but followed, silently the whole way back.

...

"Thank you for bringing her back right away." Ryouko hugged the little confused Hinami.

As the mother and daughter left, Kaya and Koma looked over at me. I held up my hands.

"I panicked! I could swear she looked into me and saw what I was!"

"It's ok," Kaya assured me. "You were cautious because of Hinami. That's whats important."

"That dove... She looked really young though, is there an age limit to how old you can be to be a dove?"

Koma put a hand to his chin. "I recently just read about some head guy at the CCG have his daughter be a part of the dove squad. She's apparently really talented, otherwise she would have never made it."

I thought about the girl I saw, with the waist-length hair and pale eyes. She couldn't have been more than my age.

I looked at the time. 3:12.

"I'm going to try and sleep. Then I'm going out tonight."

Kaya looked as though she was about to say something, but thought against it. Koma waved me goodnight, and I trudged my feet all the way up the stairs until I reached my bed. I lied there until the sun began to sink, and I began to rise.


	7. Chapter 7

I set my thumb over the button on my case, staring at the blood-thirsty monster in front of me. He grinned at me, the blood of the girl next to me all over his face. This creature was a special kind of disgusting. There was a pile of bones behind many dumpsters around here, all his recent victims. A binge-eater, those who just eat for the hell of it.

He stepped toward me, his tongue licking his lips in a disturbing fashion. I took one step back, and he took that as a sign to attack. Then he lunged, slashing at me with long spikes protruding out of his back and arms. I briskly pressed down on the knobs and kept him at bay with the sharp edge of my swords.

An even longer spike came out of his back and took out a bunch of the lights surrounding us. It was almost pitch-black now. I sucked in a breath as I held my swords around me as I waited for him to attack. I heard a step behind me and slashed at another two spikes from his arms. I shifted my weapons to where I could stab him with one hit and be done.

Before I could hit, the guy grunted and fell to the ground. I bright light appeared and a looked away, facing the body in front of me. I saw a curved spear of the ghoul's still sticking out of his back.

If he were to have been still standing, I thought, I would have been killed. I looked at the top of a neighboring building, where the light was coming from, and saw a figure standing there. It was a ghoul, its mask mostly visible. I didn't recognize it, so it must have been from out of town.

I blinked and the figure disapeared. I stepped toward the building as though it would bring it back, but obviously not. I sighed and put my weapons back into their suitcase form, and left the scene.

...

"You're going to get yourself killed one day, you know that? Last night only proved that to be 150% correct."

"Shut your trap, Kosuke. I'm trying to look for something here."

As he dallied off to do his own little thing, I was searching for a ghoul with a black cat mask in the CCG's private files.

"Dark Cat? No, I'm pretty sure it was a female... Black Cat? Ah ha!"

Kosuke looked over at me. "What is it, Iko?"

"I'm pretty sure I found our person."

"Our person?"

I shoved his arm and pointed at the screen. "It's not a very good picture, but that's what she looked like to me last night."

He leaned towards the screen. "She looks pretty scary, right?"

I pushed him out of the way. "More like dangerous. She's classified as an S rated ghoul, and lives in the 11th Ward. I knew she was from out of town."

"Why?" He said with a full mouth of whatever it was, "Because you memorized every ghoul listed that lives here?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're just jealous."

"You wish. What else does it say about her?"

"Well," I scrolled through her file. "Not much. There's that picture of her in her mask, she doesn't binge eat... Actually, she happens to hunt binge-eaters...?"

"No way, really?"

"Yep, She doesn't even eat their still-alive victims. Damn, she's here?"

"You want to meet her, don't you?"

I turned around in my chair and faced him. "You know me too well, Kosuke."


	8. Chapter 8

I wasn't able to get a lot of food off of the already half-eaten girl last night, but it was enough to last for hopefully 24 to 36 hours, maybe even a few days. I thought about the girl from the night before, she would have died if it weren't for me. Hopefully I can meet that girl again, to get a thanks for that.

Sighing, I put my arms behind my head and rested on the edge of roof I was on. I rolled to my side and looked down at the people dallying below me, holding their umbrellas at their sides. A drop of rain plopped onto my cheek, and I looked up into the grey skies.

The water started to fall faster, and the citizens below me put up their umbrellas. I put my hood over my head and zipped up my jacket to block out the sudden chill in the air. Closing my eyes, I thought more about last night, ignoring the rain that was slowly starting to pound onto me. She seemed so confident in defeating him, yet forgot that it was almost pitch black out. In my pocket, I pulled out my black cat mask and looked at it. Water fell through the eye holes and onto my cheeks. I wiped the drops off and put on the mask, silently getting up and jumped from building to another.

Atop a tall building, I listened for any noises indicating help. It seemed as though tonight was going to be a slow one. I jumped down to the ground and walked around the dark alleys, searching for something to do.

I sucked in a breath, grabbing at the agonizing pain coming from my stomach. Taking off my mask, I leaned against the wall and drew in a few shallow breaths, trying to control my breathing pattern. I still needed more eat, but nothing was around. And I hated to hunt.

"Are you alright?"

I widened my eyes and turned my head. That CCG girl from before was right there, her umbrella leaning to one side to cover part of her face, but I recognized her perfectly.

I moved my hand away from my stomach and put on a fake smile, "Oh, I'm fine, really."

She cocked her head. "Hey, I recognize you, from the other day."

I gulped, "Uh, yeah. That's me."

She raised an eyebrow, "Are you ok though? You don't look good."

I turned pink and shook my head. "No really, I'm fine," I groaned and clenched my stomach again.

She grabbed my arm, "No you aren't. Now come, I'll take you out."

"H-hey, wait!" She pulled me along with her, not even giving me the chance to object.

...

The soup tasted disgusting to me, but the heat warmed me to my bones. The girl, who I now know as Toshiko, happily slurped up her noodles and poked at her vegetables.

"Do you not like the broccoli?" I asked, trying to start some conversation.

She sighed, "Not really. Wow, that must sound weird, an Asian not liking her broccoli." She laughed. "I can eat it, if I had to, but if I was given the choice I would rather eat snap peas."

I smiled at her joke, "That is interesting," I took another huge gulp of soup, the warmth filling my body like roots on a tree.

She placed her utensils on top of her finished meal and sat back, "That was delicious."

Nodding, I placed my spoon in my empty bowl.

"Could you excuse me?" I started to stand up.

"Of course, I'll take care of the check."

"What, no! I'll take my part..." I felt my pockets but realized that I left my wallet at home.

"Really, it's fine. You looked like you could use the food."

"Uh, yeah, sure."

I left for the restroom. As soon as I entered the room, I quickly closed the door and looked it. The toilet was barely close enough to me before I started forcing myself to throw up, coughing and hacking up the disgusting taste. What a waste of her money. Even thinking that made me feel bad.

When I think all of the food is out of my system, I immediately start to feel sharp pains in my stomach. After washing out my mouth and cleaning up my face, I looked into the mirror to test how presentable I was. As I had expected, I looked like crap. I groaned and exited the room, slowly shuffling my feet.

"Hey, you feeling alright?"

Toshiko looked at me straight into my eyes, testing my answer. We stood outside of the little restaurant, the cold biting through my jacket.

"Oh, I'm fine, really. Thank you very much for the meal."

She smiled, "No need, I'm glad I got to meet you. Maybe we can see each other again?"

I sucked in a breath, "I don't know about that..."

Holding out her hand, I knew she didn't care, "Hey, go at your own speed. Here,"

She took out a small booklet from her bag and wrote something on it.

"Call me some time, " she said, handing me the slip of paper.

"Uh, sure..."

"See you around!" With that, she turned and left.

I stood there for a while, thinking about the past few hours. Remembering what I thought earlier, I did want to meet her again, but I don't think I meant for that to happen so fast. I felt my stomach churn and lowered my head, shadowing my face. I still need to eat something, I thought. Unless Anteiku or some other binge eater has some kind of meal, I will have to hunt on my own.

And I'd hate to do that.


	9. Chapter 9

I'm glad I gave that girl my number, because I definitely wanted to know more about her. She seemed very quiet and to-herself. And, being me, I will be curious of anything I don't know much about.

"You seem quiet, Iko. Are you alright?"

Looking over, my Father was slowly finishing the meal that I had prepared for him. He showed a sign of slight concern in his face, as if he knew that nothing was wrong but still wanted to ask.

"I'm fine, Father. Just a bit tired all of the sudden."

"Well then, you should go ahead and get some sleep. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

I tilted my head, "What's going on?"

He smiled as he chewed, "That you will find out when it comes up. But now, you must rest."

I beamed at him, "I can't wait."

Rising, I gave him a peck on the cheek as a goodnight as left for my room. I set out my clothes for the next day, a short black skirt, a grey long-sleeve blouse, and a black pea coat to go over everything.

I plopped onto my bed and curled into a ball. I wasn't actually tired, but rather distracted. When I'm interested in something, I need the full story, no exceptions.

Though this specific interest seemed to be the most difficult.

...

A loud ringing near my ear awoke me with a start, almost making me jump out of my skin. I got out of bed and hurriedly got dressed the day ahead. Checking my phone, I saw that I still had no new messages. Still nothing. Why so surprised? I asked myself, you just went out last night.

Ugh, that's made last night sound weird.

Suddenly, a message popped up on the screen.

Hey, are you busy tonight?

It was Kosuke, asking me about tonight. My first though was if he was asking me out, but I know Suke too well. He wouldn't do that to our friendship so suddenly.

I responded, _Er, I don't think so... whats up?_

Little after I hit send, he answered, _I was thinking about that Ghoul that you're so interested in. Wanna see if she's out tonight?_

I sucked in a breath. This was a great idea. About a week ago, Suke and I made the decision to be partners, around the time I got my new Quinque. This idea sounded great, but how were we supposed to accomplish this idea?

I typed back, _sounds good_. _See you at the building._

 _..._

"So tell me, what made you want to do this all of the sudden?" I punched the buttons to the vending machine and a green tea rolled out.

He shrugged and sipped his own drink, "You seemed interested in why she was here all of the sudden." He paused, "and I saw your search history on your computer at the desk."

"Gee, thanks Suke." I tossed a spare coin and hit him in between the eyes.

"Hey, we share the computer. Besides, I want to find out her story too. Just, maybe not as much as you do."

I sat on a nearby lounge chair and took a drink of my tea, "There have been few reports of her hunting, or seen at the scenes. And she's been known to kill off binge eaters. That's not the normal behavior of ghouls that were used to."

"Maybe it's just a Ward eleven thing?"

I smiled, "good one."

I heard an angry voice call my name and slowly turned my head.

"Uh oh, looks like I'm not the only one who saw your search history," Kosuke teased.

Without breaking eye contact with my angered father, I threw my empty can behind me and hit Kosuke again.

Crossing his arms, he stared down at me, "Toshiko, I want an explanation to those searches from the past few days."

I swallowed and toyed with my fingers, "Well, you see..."

I tested my luck and tried to lock eyes with him. Like I had a chance.

"If you had done your research correctly, you should know that this monster is S rated and kills other ghouls like its nothing. If you were to have gotten yourself into trouble..." His gaze seemed to soften, "I don't know what I would have done."

I groaned, "Dad, I know you mean what you say, but your sounding a lot like you're reading a script to some love movie. I won't get myself into trouble, promise. Besides, I have Suke with me."

My father sighed, "please be careful tonight. It's the end of the month."

As he left, me and Kosuke locked eyes. We were definitely still going out tonight, no matter the risks. I bet Suke was thinking the same thing.

"So..?" I asked Kosuke.

"We are definitely not going out tonight," he said as fast as he could.

Smirking, I got up and patted his shoulder, "meet you at our usual spot tonight, 'kay?"

He groaned, "of course..."


	10. Chapter 10

My stomach growled as I ran along the edge of this stout building. It's the end of the month, shouldn't ghouls be out?

A couple blocks down, I heard a sound. It was as if a young woman was getting robbed. Or worse…

I decided to check it out. Running as silently as I could, I followed the sound. A new smell past my nose and I stopped in front of the scene. A human in dark clothing had decided it was a good idea to try and rob the poor woman he held.

She struggled against him, holding onto her purse as though her life depended on it. He took his hand out of his hoodie and held a gun to her chest. Shit. I really hope she didn't die during this. She was young, maybe in college. I didn't know what kind of person she was, but still.

He yelled at her to stop, spittle flying from his mouth. How disturbing. Hoisting myself over the fire escape's railing, I fell down the 2 story jump and landed next to the man. The woman noticed me first and widened her eyes, recognizing who I was.

"A… a mask…"

After hearing her, the man turned and looked down at me. He must have been drunk or something, because his movements were sluggish, but he held onto her and positioned the gun to her temple.

"I will shoot, so leave! You have no part in this!" His words were slurred and his actions were slow, but this situation was dangerous.

"You idiot!" She struggled against him, "we'll both die if you keep us here like this! Let go!"

I held up my hands, "Hey, calm down. Just let the girl go, and we can figure something out."

"No!" He screamed like a little child. "This is my catch, you can't take it!"

"I don't want to. Listen, let her go, and she'll give you the money."

"What? I couldn't do that! I just earned this today, it's all I have! Now let go!"

 _Shit,_ I thought, _at this rate he will shoot._

"Listen, would you rather loose your life or your money? Come on-"

"Stop talking!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Wow, calm down. You just need-"

"If you really want to help, just use your powers already!" It seemed as though the girl was going into hysteria.

"Powers…"

"Come on! Help if you so want to! I don't want to die, I don't want-"

"Shut up!"

The sharp noise rang through the empty alleys. My eyes widened at the sight of the girl's fearful eyes go empty. Her blood went everywhere.

I made it quick and stabbed the man straight through his heart. The stench of blood over powered me, and I knew at this point that my eyes had changed.

I dropped to my knees in front of their bodies and felt a hot tear run down my cheek. I couldn't save one person. Just one person.

I've failed as someone who wanted to do good, who wanted to be good.

In the silence, I heard the sound of a foot shifting in its place. I turned my head and called out, "who's out there."

I could tell she was a human from her scent. But that other familiar smell… I couldn't put my finger on it.

My eyes popped and I jumped away from the bodies.

"Show yourself."

She stepped out, her heels clicking with every step. I recognized her immediately.

 _Toshiko_

 _..._

I watched her position her thumb over the button of her suitcase

I held up my hands in defense, "if you were here long enough, you would know that I am not responsible for these occurrences."

She continued to silently study me, her eyebrows knit over her pale eyes. She touched her thumb to the button but didn't press it, instead opening her mouth to speak.

"I know your from out of town, Cat. What brings you here?"

She sounded so much different from the Toshiko that I had dinner with the other day. This must have been her work look, stern and scary. I couldn't believe how mature she looked.

"I just needed to get away, from, well Doves. There were too many."

"That's no excuse. If ghouls keep leaving, more people are put in danger. There aren't any more with you, are there?"

I scowled, "that's how you think of us? If you haven't noticed, I had no intention of killing either of them, even if it left me hungry."

"Your ignoring my question. And I have noticed, for your information. You happen to be quite popular down in ward eleven," She smirked, "To be honest, I've been wanting to meet you for a while, ever since you saved me from that ghoul last week or so. Do you mind telling me why?"

Wow, that was a lot. I didn't know what to say.

"Well, you were helpless and defenseless, and I could see that he had an opening toward your back. Since it was dark, he had the upper hand. You see, I can see in the dark, and he had a good nose."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Listen, you don't have to worry about me. I'm trying not to cause any more trouble than what's been going on..."

"What in the world does that mean?"

I sighed, "You'd better leave. With this stench, more ghouls will be crawling in. And they won't be as nice as me."

As I tried to turn and pick up my meal, I heard a click behind me and watched as two swords sprang out of her case. One was already in her hand as she caught the other with her left.

"Step away."

"Woah, ok listen. I was going to leave the girl and a note for the cops. That's what I usually do. Not that they ever believe me."

She continued to point her sword at me. I took a deep breath and sighed.

"If not, you could just tell the cops what happened, I mean you were-"

I sniffed the air. Someone, human, had been slowly making his way closer to us using the fire escapes. I shot a long red tentacle in the smell's direction. I tall figure jumped away from its hiding spot and landed next to Toshiko, holding his right arm.

"Friend? Oh, then sorry for the attack. I don't like taking chances."

I could have been my eyes, or my sarcasm, but both of the doves looked at me uneasy. In the other Doves right hand was a tightly gripped suitcase, luckily unopened.

"We've been curious. How are you able to get into the CCG at such a young age?"

"We've? Who are-"

Toshiko stepped in front of her injured partner, "Having exceptional skills and a longer life span at the CCG. Newbies have been getting younger for a while now."

"Toshiko..."

The man was clearly questioning Toshiko's decisions, but decided against debating the topic.

"A longer life span, you say. Well, sticking around here longer would definitely lessen that time extent."

As if on cue, I shot a sharp tentacle at their direction. Both dodged the feeble attack, but they weren't the targets.

They stared in astonishment at the hunger-driven ghoul, hanging on my kagune by the shoulder. I dropped him in the dusty ground.

"I'm telling you, don't worry about me."

They turned to respond to me, only to find me and a dead body missing.

…

"There is absolutely no way I'm allowing you to share this with us. Renji found enough for us now, and look how small you've become. You really need to make sure your taking care of yourself."

"But Kaya..." I knew there was no way of changing her mind. I was too noticeably underweight, and my pains had been getting worse.

"No more arguing. Now go, get your energy. Your working tomorrow."

"Why-" I decided against asking, knowing that you are expected to work if your living here.

She pointed up the stairs, "go eat. You'll feel better."

Sulking up the steps, I responded "oh, I know."


	11. Chapter 11

I've been here, at Kosuke's house, for the past 4 hours. At 3 in the morning, I got a call from him telling me that I needed to come over immediately. He didn't even tell me what the problem was, but the way he was talking sounded forced, almost in pain.

I found Kosuke passed out on his couch, his long brown hair matted to his skin with sweat. He seemed fine to me, almost peaceful if anything. I began to wonder if this was all some prank on me or he had gotten wasted. But Suke wasn't like that.

His injured arm lay on his stomach. The bandages were ripped off to reveal a deep cut with dark purple veins racing from the wound.

I gasped, shaking Kosuke awake.

"Kosuke! Wake up please!"

His eyes bolted open, the dark brown irises lined with red, unfocused and pained. He no longer looked at peace, but now in severe agony. He grabbed a nearby blanket and screamed into it for a good amount of time.

He paused, slowly removing the blanket, and met my eyes.

"Sorry to bother you so late, but I had no idea what else to do."

I rushed to his kitchen, quickly filling a glass of water. I brought it back to him and helped him sit up.

"Don't apologize, Suke. What the hell happened?"

He coughed, trying to rid the rasp in his voice. "I couldn't tell you, but if anything that ghoul's kagune is poisonous."

"No shit…" I said I disbelief, "I've never heard of a poisonous ghoul before."

"Neither have I, and yet here we are."

I tried to think, the gears in my head in desperate need of a tuneup.

Panicking, I held my head, "what do we do?"

He rested a hand on my arm, "Maybe the antidote or something is with that ghoul."

"Too bad I scared her off then."

"I'm sure you didn't, Iko," he winced, grabbing his arm. The veins around the wound began to darken into a nice midnight blue color. I tensed.

"I swear, I will try and find that ghoul again," grabbing my bag, I stood up and sprinted to the door. Before I initially left, I turned towards Kosuke, "I'll be back in a bit, do not die on me."

He grinned slightly, his eyebrows knit in pain, "you got it, Iko."

…

I typed as fast as my fingers would let me, my hands flying at every direction in the keyboard. It's now seven in the morning, right when the building lets me in. I had signed Kosuke in as "sick", hopefully without any further questions.

I sat hunched in the chair, a cold sweat running down my back. The computer was slow, taking a good several seconds for anything to load.

Finally, something came up.

I found Suke's number and put the phone up to my head, "Come on, Kosuke, please be awake."

A short beep sounded and I heard his deep voice answer, "hello? Who is this?"

"Kosuke! There's nothing!"

"What?" There was a pause, "there's nothing for what?"

"Dammit Suke.. there's nothing on a ghoul having poisonous kagunes. Either no one has ever been poisoned by her, or no one has survived long enough to record it."

There was a long sigh from the other line, "there's nothing hidden in the system?"

"Hidden?"

"Yeah, there's this way how higher-ups at the CCG keep things hidden from those ranked like us. Maybe at your dad's desk you'll be able to find more."

I swallowed, going back and forth with the pros and cons, "if he catches me, I'm done. He'd kill me. I'd be out of my job."

"We're gonna have to try. Get in there and see what you can find."

"Yeah alright, let's do this. I'll keep you updated."

I hung up and slide the phone into my skirt's side pocket. As quietly as physically possible, I opened the door to my father's office and sunk into the great cushioned rolling chair being the old wooden table.

Luckily, the computer was open and logged in. My father must've just recently been in here, though where he was now I had no idea.

I let my fingers fly over the keyboard again, searching the database for an answer.

As I hit search, a few came up with names relating to "cat" or "black". A grainy picture closely resembling our new friend showed up. Using the computer mouse, I clicked on the file. It must've been from being logged into my father's account; the ghoul's, or the Black Cat's, report file was longer by at least a couple pages.

"No way..." I muttered.

There was so much more information on the ghoul, from where they believe she may have grown up to what her intentions could be now. All sorts of notes were written in here, yet not even a true identity had been found yet.

I rubbed my temple. There was still so much to scan over. I reached over the desk and turned on the printer, double checking for paper. Three minutes passed and I found myself with a thick stack of papers.

"Holy shit," I breathed.

I pulled an empty filing folder out of a drawer and fit the papers in. Hiding the folder under my arm, I sneaked out of the office and walked down the tiled hallways to the exit. I looked around. This seemed to have gone way too smoothly, something was bound to happen.


End file.
